What makes a sofa contemporary? Clean lines and lack of frill and ornamentation are classic tell tale signs of a contemporary sofa. Simple and clean, we’ve seen this style become more and more popular. Here are our 5 favorite classic contemporary sofas that people always just seem to love!

2.) The Retro Sofa/ Sectional – sleek and small in frame and only measuring 100 inches as a sectional, the Retro is perfect for tiny San Diego apartment living. Button tufted seat and back cushions also add classic style to this frame.

3.) Sofia Sofa/ Sectional – the most elegant part of this frame are the arms. Thin and curved arms make the Sofia the epitome of contemporary elegance. Completely customize-able the Sofia can come in any color, texture & configuration you can dream of.

4.) Brookshire Sofa/ Sectional – can we just say ahhhhhh! This sofa/ sectional is the ultimate in relaxation.

Here’s a question we hear a lot….what is the difference between Talalay Latex & Dunlop Latex when purchasing a latex mattress? So we figured we would blog about it because there are actually some major differences.

The biggest difference is the process in which they are manufactured. Talalay Latex takes about 14 hours to process while Dunlop can be made in less than an hour. If you think about it, that is a huge difference? That is like taking an hour to write an essay vs. an entire day and into the night, or grabbing coffee with a friend for an hour or spending the entire day together. You know the quality you are creating will be a lot less in that hour vs. the entire day.

So then what does this mean for you?

1.) Breath-ability- Talalay Latex is about 4 times more breathable than Dunlop. Talalay latex has a large cell structure whereas Dunlop has a smaller and more dense cell structure. This also makes Dunlop latex much more firm.

2.) Pressure Relief – Talalay Latex provides about 33% more pressure relief than Dunlop. Why is this? That’s because the process in which the Talalay is poured makes it more flexible and therefore conform to your body to provide more pressure relief when you need it. The Dunlop latex is a lot less flexible.

3.) Durability – Talalay latex is about 3 times more resilient than Dunlop. Talaly latex has a round cell structure which does not break down whereas the snowflake cell structure of the Dunlop latex does break down.

4.) Consistency – What feel at the top of a Talalay Latex mattress is exactly what you will feel at the bottom of the mattress. This is not always the case when it comes to a Dunlop mattress. This is due to a flash freezing process that is done in the Talalay latex that is not done with Dunlop. This flash freezing prevents the particles from settling after the during.

5.) Cleaner – the Talalay Latex can wash out more proteins than Dunlop. This goes back to the 1 hour vs. 14, Talalay latex is rinsed 5 times where Dunlop is only rinsed once. The proteins in latex is the true cause of a latex allergy.

6.) Support – Talalay latex will offer support in addition to pressure relief whereas Dunlop primarily only offers pressure relief.

But one benefit for Dunlop would be that it is often more cost effective. We hope this helps in your research of which mattress is best for you.

Have you ever seen a large comfy sofa paired with a delicate dainty coffee table? It’s just not quite right. Or a coffee table so tall it covers half of the sofa? When picking a coffee table with your sofa or sectional, there are just a few helpful tips to keep in mind.

1.) Generally, you coffee table should be about 2/3 the length of the sofa
2.) A regular coffee table height should be about 16-18 inches. Keep in mind if you entertain regularly it might be helpful to have a higher coffee table so your guests will have an easier time setting down drinks. However, make sure your coffee table is about the same height or about 1 to 2 inches lower than the seat height of your sofa. So if you have a higher sofa, 20-21 inches in height, your coffee table will be a little higher.
3.) Most importantly, keep your coffee table & sofa to scale, meaning your furniture should be of equal weight and size.

One of the hardest things do figure out when purchasing furniture is determining whether the furniture you are buying will fit in your home. So we created a helpful guide to all the tricks of space planning. You can print the pics out and use them on your next furniture purchasing excursion.

I’ve rolled over and succumbed to the love of Pinterest….yup I am obsessed. How did they get so many fabulous ideas in one place! I seriously spend hours there! Recently I came across some of the most creative headboard ideas I’d ever seen and I just HAD to share! Most of them look totally DIY and scream way more personality than your more traditional styles.

Decorating with black can be smart and stylish! I know it can be a little scary but it is so daring, dramatic and definitely sexy! Black is actually trendy in decorating these days and it offers a very modern look to your home. The use of black makes other colors really pop. Just make sure the room you are deciding to pain black is spacious enough. Black can often shrink a room and make it look smaller than it actually is. Though sometimes, associated with death gloom, black is more commonly associated with strength, wisdom and intelligence. (That’s why it’s in the Real Deal logo). So we decided to scour the web to find some of our favorite uses of black in the home.

Living in San Diego, we are so spoiled by our beautiful weather and the amount of time we can spend outside. I know some people that probably spend more time outdoors than they do indoors and with a well designed patio and the San Diego sunshine, who can blame them? Here are some tips to arranging your patio or outdoor furniture.

1.) There’s always a lot of traffic on patios. Make sure you keep your furniture away from all doorways and walkways. General rule is to keep your furniture about 6 feet away from all doorways.

2.) Make sure when measuring your space you consider patio furniture that you need to keep in the shade or under a covered area

3.) Set your longest piece of furniture against the longest wall or railing. This will make arranging the other pieces easier